Qualitative analysis device

ABSTRACT

A qualitative analysis device which allows for the performance of a qualitative analysis for cannabis material in vegetable matter which required a performed extraction step followed by a reaction step. The device has an outer container and an inner container within the outer container. The inner container has a frangible section and is also provided with a means for breaking the frangible section. The device is sealable so that the reagents may be stored within the device and be ready for use at any time.

United States Patent [191 Nighohossian et al.

[ 1 Feb. 6, 1973 [54] QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS DEVICE [75] Inventors: SarkieNighohossian, Baltimore; John J. Tobin, Jr., Hyattsville, both of Md.

[73] Assignee: The United States of America as represented by theSecretary of the Treasury [22] Filed: June 15, 1970 [211 App]. No.:46,365

[52] US. Cl. ..23/259, 23/230 R, 23/230 M, 23/253 R, 23/292, 206/47 A,215/6 [51] int. Cl ..G01n 1/10, 865d 81/00, B65d 79/00 [58] Field ofSearch ..23/230, 253, 259, 292; 206/47 A; 215/6; 220/89 [56 ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1969 Salivar et al. ..23/253 R 11/1969Johnson et al. ..23/253 R 3,480,398 11/1969 Hamilton ....23/259 X3,497,320 2/1970 Blackburn ..23/230 3,504,376 3/1970 Bednar et al......23/230 3,545,935 12/1970 Kearns ..23/292 3,582,283 6/1971 MirasolJr ..23/292 X Primary ExaminerMorris O, Wolk Assistant Examiner-R. E.Serwin Attorney-Thomas Hayward Brown, Joseph A. Hill and A. DavidSpevack [57] ABSTRACT 1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTED FEB 6 I975 0 I5 R M s N a Q WWW HB ta mm I N J 4 E y F SJ A d v M 7 Y B 8 2 5 m F o o5 M 0 4 I N F m ATTORNEY QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS DEVICE I GOVERNMENTLICENSE The invention described herein may be manufactured and used byor for the Government of the United States of America for Governmentalpurposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention pertains to a qualitative analysis device and moreparticularly pertains to a qualitative analysis device which allowsforthe serial extraction and reaction of vegetable matter to determine ifthe vegetable matter contains cannabis material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION At the present time the use of marijhauna,hashish or hemp-type hallucinagenic drugs is illegal in the UnitedStates. Law enforcement offices are often faced with a problem in theperformance of their duties of determining, under field conditions,whether suspected vegetable matter in fact contains cannabis materialand therefore is within the scope of the regulations pertaining to thepossession of marijhauna. There are known qualitative organic testswhich can be applied to vegetable matter in order to detect if there arecannabinols components within the vegetable matter. The term cannabinolsis used herein in a collective sense and refers to Cannabidiol,Tetrahydrocannabinol, Cannabinol and Cannabidiolic Acid. Thesesubstances are the important constituents in marijhauna.

One test commonly used is the Duquenois-Levine color test wherein thesuspected vegetable matter is first extracted in Duquenois reagent andthen treated with concentrated hydrochloric acid. If marijhauna or oneof the' derivatives is present, a blue to violet color can beextractedinto chloroform. At present this qualitative test is performed,even under field conditions, by providing the three reagents in separateflasks or vials. A field agent must handle all three vials and followthe instructions of first extracting in the Duquenois reagent thenpouring the resultant mixture into the hydrochloric acid reagent andfinally extracting with the chloroform. This procedure is clumsy andinconvenient.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a qualitativeanalysis device for conducting the Duquenois-Levine color test in oneapparatus.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a qualitative analysisdevice which is easily portable and simply used either under field orlaboratory conditions.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a qualitativeanalysis device which allows for the serial conduction of qualitativetests involving extraction of a material and a subsequent reaction step.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a qualitativeanalysis device having a frangible member.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent in the followingdescription.

Devices have appeared in the prior art which utilized a frangible orseparable member for selectively releasing one reactant into anotherreactant. Grosskopf in US Pat. No. 2,709,127 describes a device whichprovides a color test kit for detecting certain acid esters in a gas orvapor train. The device is basically a tube sealed at both ends whichcontains a reacting material supported on a resin, an indicatorsupported on filter paper and a developing solution contained in afrangible container. In operation the ends of the Grosskopf device arebroken off and the gas train passed through the tube. Then thedeveloping solution (water) is released by breaking the frangiblecontainer. This developing solution flows through the filter papercontaining the indicator and over the resin thereby completing the test.

Although Grosskopf describes a device which contains a frangibleelement, the device does not allow for the serial extraction ofvegetable matter and subsequent reaction and color development of theextracted liquor. Buchoff, in US. Pat. No. 2,929,687, discloses a simpledevice for testing boiler water which includes a small container mountedwithin a larger container. The small container is filled with a testliquid and then is sealed by placing a metal ball at its top. The outercontainer is filled with the liquid to be tested and sealed; the entiredevice is then inverted, causing the ball to drop off, releasing thetesting solution contained within the inner container. These devices areexemplary of existing qualitative analysis devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention contemplates a qualitativeanalysis device having an outer container and an inner container whereinthe inner container has a frangible section, and a fracturing meansassociated with the inner container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIG. 1 is an elevation section of thedevice.

FIG. 2 (a) through (c) is a depiction of sequential steps of the devicein use.

FIG. 3 is a general perspective view of the device.

FIG. 4 is an alternate construction of the plunger piston of the device.

FIG. 5 is a second alternate construction for the plunger piston of thedevice.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The qualitative analysis ofthis invention has an outer container which has an opening therein andan inner container which is positioned and firmly held in the opening ofthe outer container. The inner container is substantially containedwithin the outer container but is spaced apart, on at least one face,from said outer container so that at least one wall of the innercontainer does not touch the walls of the outer container. The innercontainer has a cap which can be removed to close and seal the innercontainer and at least a section of the inner container is frangible. Afracturing means is positioned in the inner container in such a mannerthat it may selectively fracture the frangible section when desired.

The container is so designed that it will both allow for the performanceof the serial steps of the Duquenois-Levine color test without having tohandle separate reagent containers and, in addition, it will act as aportable storage container for the reagents. The device of thisinvention takes many forms and may be assembled from a number ofdifferently shaped components falling within the following guidelines.The outer container is transparent to the extent that a change in colortaking place within the device would be visible. The outer container canbe of any shape but must have an opening in at least one side thereof toallow the inner container to be inserted therethrough. This may be doneby having the inner container actually sealed to the outer containeronce the reagents for the outer container are in place or morepreferably a tight fitting cap can be used to close the outer containerwherein the cap contains an opening therein wherein the inner containermay be mounted and affixed. The outer container may be made of anymaterials which will not interact with the reagents contained thereinand are sufficiently stable to withstand the shock of transport. Suchmaterials are glass, plastic and non-woven coated fabrics. The innercontainer may be made of any material which will not interact with thereagents contained therein or interfere with the reaction to beperformed therein. The inner container should be of sufficiently strongmaterial that allows for safe manipulation during the test. The innercontainer should have at least one frangible section. In the preferredembodiment the inner container is made of glass and a bottom portion ofsaid glass container is of extremely thin construction so that it mayeasily be fractured. In an alternate embodiment the inner container canbe a simple glass or plastic tube having a frangible plastic membrane orfilm across one end positioned so that it may be easily fractured ortorn. It is not necessary for the inner container to be transparent andthe inner container can also be manufactured from metal and metal foilor similar material as long as said metal is coated with a substancewhich prevents the interaction of the reagents with the container.

The fracturing means can include any device which can be inserted intothe inner container to break the frangible section of the innercontainer. In its preferred form the fracturing device is a pistonplunger which also works in cooperation with the closure of the innercontainer to seal the inner container and prevent loss of material instorage. The fracturing means may be constructed of any material whichwill not interact with the reagents contained within the device and willprovide a slidable seal for the inner container. In its preferredembodiment, the fracturing means is a plunger piston made of plastic orsynthetic material such as polyethylene polypropolyene or nylon whichcan have sufficient stiffness to act as a plunger and yet besufficiently self lubricating to allow for the plunger to slidably sealthe inner container. The plunger piston may be the only seal for theinner container but, most preferably, the plunger piston is mounted inthe inner container closure. The closure is provided with a guideway forthe plunger piston to increase the stability and safety of the device.The device is also provided with a protective cap of any one of thetypes commonly used in the aerosol and pump bottle art to protect theplunger assembly during storage and transport and to prevent theunintentional depression of the plunger thereby breaking the frangibleseal before it is desired to do so. These protective caps include suchdevices as twist-off caps used on the liquid soap pump bottles andsnap-off caps as are commonly used on aerosol shave creams.

Now having generally described the qualitative analysis device of thisinvention, reference is made to the drawings to describe specificembodiments of the invention which are illustrative of the device whenmade of glass.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is an elevation of the qualitativeanalysis device 10, having an outer container 11 with closure 12.Closure 12 is securely attached to container 11 by means of detent 13.In an alternate embodiment (not illustrated) closure 12 can bethreadably secured to container 11.

A second container 14 is securely affixed to closure 12 by means ofshoulder 15 integrally formed on container 14 and threaded nut 16. Nut16 is provided with outer threads 17 which provide a means for securingprotective cap 18 to the device 10. The bottom of inner container 14 isa frangible section 22.

A piston plunger 19, having plunger handle 20 and piston head 21, isslidably positioned in container 14 in such a manner that piston head 21seals inner container 14.

Plunger handle 20 is of sufficient length that piston 21 exerts force onliquid contained in container 14 to an extent sufficient to fracturesection 22 when plunger 20 is depressed.

As illustrated, container 14 is spaced apart from container 11 on allsides. In actuality side walls 23 of container 14 can be spaced adjacentto side walls 24 of container 11 with just sufficient room-betweencontainers 11 and 14 to allow for easy insertion of container 14 intocontainer 11.

It is required that sufficient space be provided between the frangiblesection of the inner container and the outer container adjacent thefrangible section to both contain the quantities of reagents used andallow for the fracturing of the frangible section. Of course, with glassconstruction it is only necessary to score the container sufficientlythat a part of the container will break when force is exerted.

Referring again to FIG. 1 approximately one milliliter of Duquenoissolution 26 is placed in container 14 and slightly in excess of onemilliliter each of chloroform 27 and hydrochloric acid 28 is placed incontainer 1 l. Sufficient head room is provided between frangiblesection 22 and the surface of the hydrochloric acid 28 to contain thecontents of container 14 during the test.

In an alternate embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, piston head 521 isprovided with blades 500 which aid in the fracturing of the frangiblesection.

Another arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 4 where container 411 issubstantially cylindrical and is threaded at the top. Inner container414 is suspended by shoulders 415 within container 411. Screw cap 416seals both inner container 414 and outer container 416 and holds thesecontainers together in position. Plunger 420,having a pointed end 421,isslidably mounted in collar 401 surrounding opening 402 in closure 416and is of sufficient length so as to pierce frangible section 422 whendepressed. A protective cap 418 is provided to protect the device andprevent the accidental activation of the plunger 420. In its preferredform the device, as illustrated in FIG. 4 is formed from plastic.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of device 10 ready for use or storage.Protective cap 18 is in place and outer container 11 is charged withchloroform 27 and hydrochloric acid 28. Container 14 is charged withDuquenois reagent. In the preferred embodiment approximately 1milliliter of Duquenois agent is placed in the inner container andslightly in excess of one milliliter each of chloroform and hydrochloricacid are placed in the outer container. It is only necessary to useequal portions of hydrochloric acid and chloroform to the quantity ofDuquenois reagent used but in practice it is preferrable to use a slightexcess of hydrochloric acid and chloroform.

Duquenois reagent is a mixture of vanillin, acetaldehyde and ethanol (95percent). The chloroform is reagent grade material and the hydrochloricacid is concentrated reagent grade material.

The chloroform and hydrochloric acid are immiscible and will remain intwo layers in the outer container with the hydrochloric acid layer ontop. Once the chloroform and hydrochloric acid are placed in the outercontainer the outer container may be either permanently sealed orprovided with a tight fitting removable cover. The Duquenois solution isplaced in the inner container. This device, as seen in FIG. 3 fully setup, may be stored for extended periods of time or easily transportedwith field agents so that it may be used in the field when necessary.The operation of the device will be demonstrated by referring to FIG. 2(a)(c). When it is necessary to use the device in the field, the outerprotective cap 18 is removed and discarded. Piston plunger 20 is removedand the suspected vegetable matter 250 is dropped into the Duquenoissolution 26 contained in container 14 as is seen in FIG. 2. The plunger20 is then replaced thereby sealing the vegetable matter into container14. Device is shaken to allow the Duquenois reagent 26 to extract thecannibus material from vegetable matter 250. Then plunger is depressedcausing piston 21 to exert pressure on Duquenois solution 26 which inturn exerts the pressure against the frangible section 22 of container14 fracturing said section 22 as is seen in FIG. 2b. The vegetablematter 250 and Duquenois reagent 26, now containing any extractedmatter, is dumped into the hydrochloric acid layer 28 contained incontainer 11. Device 10 is then swirled to allow an interaction of thehydrochloric acid 28 with any cannibus material extracted into theDuquenois reagent 26. Lastly, unit 10 is shaken to extract any formedcolor from the hydrochloric acid layer into the chloroform layer 27. Apositive test is illustrated in FIG. 20 by the violet color extractedinto the chloroform layer 27.

This device provides a simple-to-use compact and readily available unitfor the identification of marijhauna or marijhauna-type products by lawenforcement officers and others either in the field or in thelaboratory. The relatively tight fit of the closure and inner containerand the relatively narrow vapor space between the outer container andthe inner container reduces the vaporization and loss of both thechloroform and hydrochloric acid which are both relatively volatilematerials. In field tests this device has proved usable in the field,even on the Texas border at temperatures up to F. The device provides asimple unitary structure for accomplishing a reaction sequence which canbe rather complicated for one not skilled in chemical techniques. 5

Although the invention has been particularly disclosed for a deviceconstructedout of glass, it is to be understood that the invention ISapplicable for other materials such as plastics. It is also obvious toone of ordinary skill in the art that the foregoing is presented by wayof example only and the invention is not to be unduly restricted therebysince modifications may be made in the structure of the various partswithout functionally departing from the spirit of this invention.

What I claim is:

l. A self-contained device for performing qualitative analysiscomprising:

an outer container open at one end;

a closure having an inner container affixed thereto for sealing saidouter container;

said inner container positioned in the opening of said outer container,said inner container. being substantially contained within said outercontainer and spaced apart from said outer container on at least oneface thereof, said inner container having a frangible section;

a removable plunger piston for slidably sealing said inner container,said plunger piston being of sufficient length so as to exert a force onliquid contained in said inner container sufficient to fracture saidfrangible section when said plunger is depressed;

said inner container containing Duquenois reagent and said outercontainer containing chloroform and hydrochloric acid, each in an amountslightly in excess of the amount of Duquenois reagent present; and

a protective cap placed over said plunger piston to prevent theaccidental depression of said plunger piston.

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